Passos Sousa (António Policarpo dos)
Biography of a Madalena do Mar-born surgeon, municipal secretary and admired poet who died young.
He was born in the parish (freguesia) of Madalena do Mar (‘Magdalene by the sea’) on 26 January 1836 and died in the town (vila) of Ponta do Sol (‘point of the sun’) on 26 May 1875. He was a surgeon trained at the Funchal School and secretary of the Municipal Administration (Administração do Concelho, the government's local civil office) of Ponta do Sol. According to the testimony of his contemporaries, Policarpo dos Passos Sousa possessed a prodigious talent, which misfortune did not allow to show itself with the vigour and brilliance that might have been so much wished for. He contributed to several newspapers and was regarded in his day as an inspired poet, his verse compositions enjoying great popularity. One of his compositions appears in the 1st vol. of ‘Flowers of Madeira’ (Flores da Madeira).
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 02Place
Places mentioned · 02
- Madalena do Mar
Ponta do Sol. His birthplace.
Madalena do Mar is a parish on the south-west coast of Madeira, in the municipality of Ponta do Sol, founded on the estate of the legendary Henrique Alemão and made an independent parish in 1582. The Elucidário records its chapels, sugar and banana farming, its capitania-mor, damage in the 1876 floods and the 1939 flood of the Ribeira da Madalena, and it was the birthplace of António Policarpo dos Passos Sousa.
- Ponta do Sol
Where he died and served as municipal secretary.
Town and municipality of Ponta do Sol on Madeira, an early sugar-producing centre raised to a town in 1501. The Elucidário traces the changes in its municipal territory and its role as seat of a judicial district (comarca).
People
People mentioned · 01- António Policarpo dos Passos Sousa1836–1875
Surgeon trained at the Funchal medical school and poet represented in 'Flores da Madeira'.